New standards for transgender health care raise eyebrows

aIf more Drama was needed in the gender wars, and the public release of the latest standards of care by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (wpath) On September 15 it was a mess. known as soc8, they originally listed the minimum ages for treatment – 14 for cross-sex hormones, 15 for removal of the breasts, and 17 for testicles. Hours later, the “patch” removed the age limit. Drafting committee chair Eli Coleman said the publisher went ahead “without consent” before making the final changes.

This intensified concerns about the document’s “gender affirmation” approach that supports self-diagnosis by adolescents and children. wpathHeadquartered in Illinois, it has been the leading transgender health organization sought for guidance worldwide. Since her views are important, critics are concerned soc8 Hormones and surgery should be allowed even at younger ages. They think this makes a lot of teens medical who don’t need either, just treatment. soc8 also says that puberty blockers are reversible, a claim that is disputed.

The document is trying to find a middle ground. She accepts that other mental health issues must be dealt with. But she insists that a systematic review of the evidence for outcomes in youth transmission, which critics have called for, is not feasible, even though Britain did (the findings contributed to the decision to close the Tavistock Youth Clinic which also reinforced gender assertion).

“wpath Activists have seized it, says Julia Mason, an Oregon pediatrician. Such criticism is far from reality, says Mr. Coleman. “This is a professional organization of people who all abide by the Hippocratic Oath.”

The most controversial chapter has been about eunuchs, who “may seek castration to better align their bodies with their sexual identity”. It’s referring to a website that hosts stories about boys being castrated against their will. Stella O’Malley, an Irish psychologist who heads Genspect, a group that questions “emphasis”, says there is a danger of “a new sacred ideology emerging that you cannot criticize”. As with the Catholic Church, she says, “this will inevitably attract some actors with bad intentions.”

So far, the move has been justified by the hope that it can ease the distress. Although some studies have found short-term improvements in mental health, these improvements disappear in long-term studies. soc8 offers wpath He has changed that goal now, to help transgender people achieve “lasting personal comfort,” notes Will Malone of the Association for Evidence-Based Medicine, an advocacy group. “The distress was clinical. Now it is about cosmetic procedures to achieve personal comfort.”

Concerned parents, many of whom are on the political left, point to the growing number of anti-conversion. Meanwhile, Sweden and Finland ignored wpathConducted systematic reviews and controlled adolescent hormones and surgeries. ■

from San Jose News Bulletin https://sjnewsbulletin.com/new-standards-for-transgender-health-care-raise-eyebrows/
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